3i Infrastructure meets dividend target, will raise payout in 2027

12th May 2026 09:48

(Sharecast News) - 3i Infrastructure reported an 8.5% total return for the year ended 31 March on Tuesday, as it met its dividend target and said it would raise the payout again for the 2027 financial year.

The FTSE 250 infrastructure investment company said total return for the year was £295m, equivalent to 8.5% on opening net asset value and in line with its medium-term target of 8% to 10% per annum.

Net asset value rose to £3.74bn at the year end, or 405.2p per share, from 386.2p a year earlier.

The company declared a full-year dividend of 13.45p per share for the 2026 financial year, fully covered by income and non-income cash, and set a target dividend of 14.30p per share for 2027, up 6.3%.

Chair Richard Laing said 3i Infrastructure had delivered "a solid performance in a year marked by geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty".

"I am pleased to report that, for the year ended 31 March 2026, the company generated a total return of 8.5%, in line with our target," he said.

"We have met or exceeded our return objective in every year for over a decade."

The company said performance was supported by the agreed sale of its 71% stake in TCR, the airport ground support equipment lessor, which is expected to generate net proceeds of about €1.14bn and represents an uplift of around 50% to its March 2025 carrying value.

3i Infrastructure said the transaction, expected to complete in the third quarter of 2026 subject to regulatory approvals, would deliver a gross internal rate of return of 20% and a gross money multiple of 3.6 times over the life of the investment.

Managing partner Bernardo Sottomayor said the company continued to deliver "exceptional returns to shareholders from exits, enhancing our realisation track record with the successful sale of TCR".

During the year, 3i Infrastructure committed £394m to new investments, including the acquisition of a majority stake in Lefdal Mine Datacenter, an underground data centre campus in Norway, and follow-on investments in Joulz and ESVAGT.

It invested €107m into Joulz to support two acquisitions that increased the energy infrastructure company's pro forma EBITDA by about 70%, while ESVAGT acquired two service operation vessels from Edda Wind that were already operating under long-term charter contracts.

The portfolio generated a total portfolio return of £374m, or 9.6%, with strong contributions from TCR, Oystercatcher, Future Biogas, Tampnet and FLAG.

That was partly offset by weaker performance from SRL and the full write-down of DNS:NET, after lending appetite deteriorated across the German fibre rollout sector.

3i Infrastructure said DNS:NET was now valued at zero, reflecting the lack of availability of new debt financing needed to continue its fibre-to-the-home network rollout in Berlin, Brandenburg and Saxony-Anhalt.

The company said its revolving credit facility had been increased to £1.2bn during the year through a £300m accordion, used as a bridge to proceeds from the TCR sale.

Drawings under the facility stood at £535m at 31 March, but proceeds from TCR were expected to allow the company to repay the balance in full.

Following completion of the TCR sale and the Lefdal Mine Datacenter investment, 3i Infrastructure said it expected a pro forma cash balance of £201m, materially strengthening available liquidity.

Laing said the portfolio would be more balanced after the TCR disposal and Lefdal investment, with 10 assets each representing between 4% and 18% of total value.

"The TCR transaction proceeds will enable the company to fully repay drawings under its revolving credit facility, greatly improving the company's available liquidity," he said.

"This provides flexibility to support value-accretive growth within existing platform investments and to pursue a selective pipeline of new opportunities across our target markets."

The company said its shares delivered a total shareholder return of 8.6% during the year, compared with a 12.8% return from the FTSE 250.

Since its 2007 initial public offering, annualised total shareholder return has been 10.8%, compared with 6.3% for the FTSE 250 over the same period.

The final dividend of 6.725p per share was expected to be paid on 10 July, subject to shareholder approval, to shareholders on the register on 12 June.

At 0928 BST, shares in 3i Infrastructure were down 0.54% at 370.5p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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